>>520835203
What happened is I saw this post about a British WWII veteran lamenting that the war was a mistake. And surely he is correct, and good on him finally to see it.
Then I read the comments in the thread, many praising Germany as the real hero of the war who lost in the end in a tragic defeat.
But it was the entire way of thinking that predominated in Europe, held by the Allies and the Axis, and before them by the Allies and the Central Powers, which led to the West's destruction. Germany was no more a hero than Britain or Russia. All the belligerents were just vying for rulership of Europe on the false assumption, which they failed to examine, that Europe would forever remain the center of the world and, therefore, whoever ruled Europe would rule the world. This assumption was just taken as self-evident truth by the latter 1800s due to so many centuries of Europe's situation as master of the globe.
But failure to reckon with this assumption -- of invincible Europe, destined to rule forever -- and realize it was just an assumption and not the truth, is what truly enabled the World Wars that had the effect of dooming the West, because had Europe's mortality been common knowledge at the time, i.e. that the West is ultimately as mortal as any other civilization, in contrast with the picture of invincibility that had taken shape by that time, then I don't see how the peoples of Europe, or even Europe's ambitious and risk-taking leaders, would have gambled Europe's place as the center of the world by engaging in history two greatest wars.

The World Wars were the greatest foolishness of all time, based on arrogance and the idea that no matter how destructive each of the belligerents decided to be, nothing could strip Europe and the West of its place at the top.

I have often wondered if European elites, on the eve of World War I, were eager to sacrifice a lot of the younger males of the time because those young men were engaged in a lot of social unrest due to their bad working and living conditions during industrialization and its attendant urbanization. All major powers in Europe were spoiling for a fight, Britain and France as much as Germany was. Perhaps the leaders of these countries wanted to decimate and demoralize the young, who became known as The Lost Generation after the war due to their cynicism and low morale, by sending them to die in the millions. Killing off a bunch of the young men is a good way to preserve the system, since it's the young men who are the most likely to cause problems for the system.
If World War III breaks out in the not too distant future, while all the social pressures that have been mounting for decades remain a problem, then it will be a valid question: is the war a means for elites to decimate the young male population, break their spirits and keep them in line?

Since its rise to dominance, Western Civilization was always led by a European country, up until 1945.
In the 1400s, Portugal was the most dynamic country in Europe, sending expeditions around the entire continent of Africa and all the way to India, founding the trading city of Goa in India.
After the discovery of the New World funded by the Spanish Crown, Spain became Europe's superpower and the vanguard of Western Civilization for about a century and half.
In the latter 1600s, the tiny Dutch Republic became the most dynamic European power, growing immensely in wealth and influence due to excellent trade relationships, especially in what today is Indonesia. The established powers of the time, which were Spain, France, and England, looked at the Dutch Republic as an upstart unworthy to be the leading power of Europe and so they ganged up in the Netherlands to attack its trade routes and defeat the Dutch Republic militarily. It worked, but during the Dutch Golden Age of the latter 17th century, the Dutch were Western Civilization's most advanced nation.
Then comes France in the 1700s; France was Europe's dominant power until the French Revolution, which kicked off a quarter century of continent-wide warfare that ended with the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. After Waterloo, the British Empire became the leader of Europe and the vanguard of Western Civilization.
The Pax Britannica lasted until 1914 with the outbreak of World War I, which shattered the perception of peace and stability guaranteed by British might.
Between 1914 and 1945, the West didn't have a clear leading country, though the British Empire remained the most powerful country in the world.
Of course, after World War II, Europe was in a bad state, its morale was shattered, the will to fight to maintain their colonial holdings was gone, and so Europe's colonies began to break away and form independent countries, starting with India in 1947.
The US emerged as the leading power in the West in 1945.